Taking little risks
by LAIsobel
Summary: What could have happened in Emancipation? Read to find out and let me know what you think about it! Rating just to be sure on this one...
1. INTRO

INTRO from the author :o)

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Hi there everyone!

OK, here we are... with another story of mine. This is gonna be my first SG-1 fanfic ever to be posted. I used to write a lot about this show many years ago but I have never even imagined posting it. During the last few weeks there were some major changes in my life and I simply came back to what I used to like... And I found some of my stories.

Just to be clear, I really love the movie from Emmerich, I am not so happy about all the other movies with SG-1, sorry guys. I love the show, no doubts about that. Anyway, I would like to inform you all that what I like is the beginning. First let's say four seasons... I can be happy even about sixth and seventh... but other than that? I am sorry, but no so much. I have seen it all of course, but I cannot honestly say that I enjoyed it. Some of the jokes were pretty good, but the story itself? Eh... nope.

I am one of those that like the original idea of fighting enemies and traveling through the galaxy, encountering various races (which all can speak English more or less, hehe) and dealing with personal things. I have always wanted to see Sam and Jack together, I was hoping for Daniel to be happy with Sha're... or with Janet by the way. I was mourning losing Janet because I really liked her. I was missing Cassandra on the show... and for me the real story sort of ended by Threads. Everything settled and at ease. That was simply nice. Of course that losing Jacob was unpleasant...

I even kinda liked Atlantis just for the record. They were not trying to make SG-1 again, their stories were different and yet very funny and entertaining, full of personal stories to tell as well. The end was not that nice, true... but in general the show was good. And I haven't seen Stargate Universe so far and I am not sure that I ever will.

In my stories there might be some things different from the show because I would like to stick to my naive and romantic ideas and dreams about the characters. I might be ignoring some parts of the show and I might be working with some other parts a lot. But that is who I am. The hopeless romantic type that wants to see the characters to be happy – and not just in Stargate series, but simply everywhere... Life can be pretty difficult, I know, I can tell for sure... so when it comes to watching a TV-show I kind of need it to be about life, I don't care if it is in the future, present or past, it has to feel real and yet it should have some small personal happy endings... because sometimes those are missing in the real life and when you can see them on your TV, you might want to believe that they can come true one day for real.

Oooookay, that would be all I think. If there is something important, I will post it along with the stories I think. And I will be referring to this intro with every story I am going to post about Stargate. No need to be posting this more than once, huh?

So I hope you will enjoy my stories, leave me some feedback and perhaps share with me your thoughts and ideas, wishes and so on. I am always trying to reply to all of your feedback. And if you give me some inspiration then I might as well write about it :o) That is sort of challenge for me and from what I know - it is kinda good to be writing story for someone... hehe don't hesitate to let me know :o)

Oh – I don't have a beta yet... I haven't been posting in a while... but maybe if there is someone interested...? I don't think I will be able to post regularly, sorry about that... but I will try to do my best, that much I can honestly promise you.

And that is really all I think :o)

So be well and have a nice day :o)


	2. Taking little risks

_**A/N**: I was watching some of the first episodes and you know that feeling when you are watching and it looks like something is missing there? Well in Emancipation I was missing some heated moments between Sam and Jack... hehe..._

_**Disclaimer**: Nothing is mine! Just the idea of this particular story... I am just borrowing the rest._

_**Spoilers**: Well... up to Emancipation but I might mention some things about pre-Stargate lives of the characters, so you might find some spoilers in there... sorry folks._

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**Taking little risks** by** Isobel  
**

Samantha Carter had always been in a tough position. She had never wanted to be a lady. Well, yeah, when she was a little girl, playing with her mother's earrings and dresses, she wanted to be a princess. She wanted to be pretty, to have long legs and beautiful hair; she wanted to be a real woman, like her mother was.

But then things changed. Her life became different. She wanted to be an astronaut. She fell in love with space programs. It was the biggest challenge she could have imagined. It was her dream and she worked hard to achieve it. Well, things turned out to be a bit different. There was no space traveling for her.

Then, as a rookie in the Academy, she had fallen in love with a different kind of flying. And she wanted this dream to come truth as well. And she was successful. She had to work hard and she had to forget about being a woman. She had to be a soldier. She had to learn how to be tough and how to survive among men.

The fact that she was a brilliant astrophysicist was not helping her at all. She had to be flying more and taking more dangerous missions to prove her value. But she was successful in that as she was in many other things.

She noticed guys looking at her while she was wearing her uniform. Of course they would be staring at her. She looked good. But she had never thought about taking advantage of that. Maybe she should have. She was supposed to be on the first mission through the gate. She was supposed to be there. She wanted to be there. And instead of that somebody called the general and she was sent to Washington. She was so pissed... She decided to work even harder to prove that she was important. She wanted to let all those people realize that they had made a mistake. She wanted them to realize that maybe she was a woman, but not a doll. And her dream became truth one day. General Hammond called her superior and asked for her. The general himself asked for her!

And then it happened. She saw all those guys, smirking at her, staring at her figure. She caught their gazes on her legs, ass, breasts... She had to learn how to use her feminine side to achieve some things, yeah. But she had no intention of doing so. She wanted to be herself. Then Colonel O'Neill had the strangest conversation with her. She was a bit angry but she could prove her value.

And now, here she was, standing in the middle of a very bad smelling tent or yurt or whatever it was, wearing blue dress and she looked... different. She looked like a woman, not like a soldier. So her situation was tough on her again. She had always tried to be equal with her colleagues and especially in SGC. And now? What would people think and how they would react? She would have to go to the gate dressed like this. Maybe she would be able to persuade the Colonel to go to some other planet first so she would have a chance to put her military clothes back on.

Samantha Carter was a soldier. But now, on this mission, she was a woman as well. And there was nothing she could do about it. And that was something she hated.

Well, she had to admit that it felt good when guys kept staring at her. Daniel was pleasantly surprised, that was for sure. He had never seen her in anything but her uniform.

But what really got under her skin was the reaction of Colonel O'Neill. And what did he say about her looks working for him? That was so inappropriate! But it also felt really good.

He was a strong man with thick walls around his heart. And there were moments when she wanted to hug him, and never let go. Sometimes she just wanted to watch him sleep with his face relaxed and full of peace. And sometimes she wanted to kiss him and make all his bad experiences and memories and nightmares go away. It was silly and she knew that. But all of that was just a part of her thinking. It was just one possible scenario. And she knew that they would never do any of that. She was walking on a safe ground. And having some naughty thoughts about her commander officer couldn't be that bad, could be? Naaaah. It was a natural response to his close proximity and their shared experiences. It was nothing bad.

Sam lied down in the tent, ready to go to sleep with her head full of possible scenarios about her future. She was just trying to picture herself in many different positions and situations. It would keep her mind busy and she would fall asleep soon. And tomorrow she would go home and forget about everything… right?

Colonel Jack O'Neill knew that he was having some really inappropriate thoughts about his second in command. Captain Samantha Carter was a big problem right now. She was no longer Captain. She was … desirable.

When he saw her for the first time, she took his breath away. He could only stare at her. But to his defense, which guy would be able to do anything else? All his body parts were screaming at him to go and make her his right there in the briefing room. He had to silence his primal instincts. But from the looks of his co-workers he could tell for sure that she was having the same effect on every guy around. She was just hot and beautiful.

She could impress him right in the beginning with her speech about being strong and as she said, tough enough for him. He knew that this would cause them some serious troubles. But Hammond insisted on putting her into his team. She was supposed to be one of the key elements in the whole game.

First team was established from the best, as Hammond told them all. He wanted that team to be their flag one. They were supposed to handle the most complicated situations. Their opinions should be considered as the most valuable ones. He was their leader, the commanding officer, the one who had been on Abydos so long ago. He was the one with experiences and abilities that should present their advantages. Then there was Daniel. He was not supposed to be there at first. But then he insisted on coming along. And after the first hour of his passionate speech he finally gave them something interesting. Anthropologist would be really needed on SG missions. And he proved his point very quickly.

And Carter. Captain Samantha Carter. Doctor Samantha Carter. She was the smartest person on the whole base. For most of the time O'Neill was not able to understand her at all. It took him several long hours of trying to translate her speeches into normal English. But now he had some training... She was never asking for some exceptions because of being a woman. She was always able to keep up with them. And very soon O'Neill realized that having her with them was a good idea. She was some kind of a basic element and soon guys couldn't really operate without her.

And when Teal'C proved that he could be trusted, he joined them. And O'Neill would never be able to express how much that meant to him. They were a team. They were like the four elements. And it was working.

It was working till now. Seeing Carter dressed like that reminded him that she was a woman after all. And a very beautiful one, just for the record. Some of his primal instincts were screaming at him in his head again. And not just there.

He would have to thank Daniel one day. Only his presence next to him saved him from doing something really stupid.

After the divorce with Sarah he had been lonely. But he was already used to that. And he knew that the divorce was a good thing. The marriage used to be a good one. But after the death of his son, things became different. And yeah, his wife forgave him. But he would never forgive himself. His son died because of him. And he would have to live with that burden being put on his shoulders. When Sarah asked him to sign the divorce papers, he couldn't have said no. She needed it and he owed her that. He signed them and she left for good. She had a chance for a better life without him.

He thought that he would remain alone for the rest of his life. He had no family. He had no friends. Well, of course he had his army buddies, but they were trying not to run into each other too often. Those meetings had the tendency to bring up old painful memories. And O'Neill was not really a huge fan of that. He had his past and he wanted it to be his past, not his present.

And suddenly he had Daniel as his best friend. He saw him during one the worst moments. He saw him during the good ones as well. They were able to talk about everything. Then there was Teal'C. The biggest and the best guy ever. O'Neill knew that they would be really good friends soon. There was something connecting them. And then there was Carter... oh yeah, she was about to be his friend as well. But that was sort of a necessary thing with their jobs. They had to learn how to trust each other. It was not only about military ranks. It was about trust and friendship. It was about all those people wearing the same uniforms.

And O'Neill needed only few hours before he could trust Carter fully. He would put his life into her hands. He trusted her that much. And he knew that she was on the same wave with him. She was in that with him. They were soldiers, they were colleagues, they were co-workers and they were friends. And in that tent, when she showed up dressed like a goddess, he was hoping for becoming more.

O'Neill knew that it was not an option for them. They were soldiers and they were working on the same base. There was no chance for them. However, he had some wild ideas running through his tired head…

It was around midnight according to his watch when he decided to check upon her. He took some water and some food along. She was not allowed to celebrate with them so he might as well at least make it up to her a bit. He could be a gentleman for once, right?

He tried to announce himself but there was no response. He entered the tent and found her sleeping peacefully on the ground. She looked like an angel, really. He sat down, close to her. He wanted at least to leave those supplies there.

And who was he kidding? He wanted to use the chance he got so suddenly to spend some time with her, just watching her angelic face.

Sam was not asleep. She heard some steps and she got on alert the very same moment. The person knelt down next to her. Those steps were heavy so she assumed that it was a guy. When he was really close to her, she attacked him.

It was a quick fight. She had her training and she was in a good condition. Besides he let his guard down. How stupid... She had her attacker pinned to ground very soon. Her outfit was making it a bit difficult to fight effectively so she decided to do it in the old fashioned way. She had him on his back while she was sitting on him, pinning him to the ground, holding him in place with her legs. She had her dress rolled up to her upper thighs because she needed her legs free to accomplish her task. She was holding her attackers hands above his head. She was pressing something against his throat.

"Carter what the hell are you doing?"

She was surprised. She would never guess that it would be Colonel O'Neill. She wanted to be sure though. The voice didn't sound exactly like his. There was something different in it... And besides she felt really powerful that moment and she didn't want it to end.

She freed one of his hands.

"Turn on the lamp next to your left hip. Use your left hand. Slowly. And don't try to do anything reckless."

She sounded like a real soldier. She was cold and emotionless. O'Neill was surprised by this attitude. But he liked it a lot. Actually their actual position was not that unpleasant after all. Which guy would mind being pinned down to the ground by a beautiful woman?

She told him to use his hand and to be slow. He could have moved quickly and she would be lying under him with one swift motion. But he was enjoying this. And besides he was really not sure what was that thing pressed to his throat. And she could be dangerous. That much he knew.

Slowly, he moved his hand down. And when he reached her bare leg, he couldn't help himself. He was doing something against regulations, it was actually very much against regulations, but he could not care less. He was touching her for a moment and her skin reacted against her will. He had the urge to growl. Instead of that he turned on the lamp.

Carter could feel his warm rough hand on her leg and she was almost purring in pleasure with that sudden unexpected contact. Everything was spoiled when he turned on the lamp.

Carter looked down. She was holding some strange thing in her hand and it was not even sharp. She had no idea what it was. But she would surely not be able to harm anybody with it. She might throw it but nothing else... She released Colonel's hand and she move away her hand from his throat. But, no matter what, she was still sort of sitting on him. She made one mistake. She looked into his eyes.

He was looking at her with eyes darker than ever. He had something strange written all over his face. He was not saying anything. He was just staring at her. And that look was full of something wild. She had never seen him like that before.

O'Neill decided to play a little with her. He might blame something in their drinks of food or the gate traveling on his behavior later. He needed one swift motion; he needed the cooperation of his legs, arms; well of all his body parts, to change their positions.

Carter was suddenly lying on the ground, her hands over her head and her commanding officer was pressed to her. She realized one thing. This situation was bad. It was bad because it was turning her on against her own will. Her body was signalizing to her that she should do something about her biological urges. And God had to know that she wanted to do it. But she couldn't. He was her superior. It would be bad, too bad.

They both knew they didn't need the complications. Not because of some unfulfilled biological urges.

"What were you thinking, Captain, huh?"

She didn't have a chance to respond.

"And what the hell is that thing you wanted to use to cut my throat open?"

He sounded a bit amused. She had to admit that her choice of weapons was not really wise. She understood that he could have done this a long ago. She had no advantage. So when he was moving his hand down... He did it on purpose! He ... oh he was a guy after all.

"Is this how you treat all the guys that come to see you with a supper in their hands?"

"You brought me supper?"

"Yes. But now I have the impression that you are not really hungry. I was expecting something like a thank you... but you fought me instead."

"I am sorry, sir. I had no idea who was it."

"And you call that an apology?"

"I am really glad that you brought me something to eat. I appreciate that a lot."

"Well that's better but still..."

"Okay. I give up. What can I do make it up to you, sir?"

"I will think about that and let you know."

She was suddenly really worried. This would end badly. For her, of course. He would surely come up with something completely crazy. But he would never do anything to embarrass her, though. Or she was hoping so.

Carter wanted to make him move away from her but she couldn't. She liked him exactly where he was. She tried to move her legs so he would be pressed to her even more … and she was successful. He looked surprised for a moment, yeah, but then he just smiled at her. It was a wicked smile.

O'Neill new that he was supposed to be out of that tent ages ago. He could only hope that Daniel would not get the idea of looking for him. Only the idea of him walking on them right then… wow.

All the fun was spoiled when Carter's stomach growled. She was hungry. Colonel almost laughed at her.

"Hungry, Captain?"

"Yes..."

She said that and he had to remind himself who she was. Her voice was so tempting. All he needed to do was to lower his head a bit and her lips would touch his. Oh yes, he wanted that a lot. He kept looking at her. He couldn't move... He was mesmerized by the color of her eyes.

Carter was still lying on the ground, with her CO on her, holding her hands above her head. She was hungry and she wanted to get up and eat something. But her body kept giving her signals about a completely different kind of a hunger. It's been so long since she had the chance to truly feel like a woman.

Colonel didn't look like he was about to get up anytime soon. He was most probably enjoying their current situation as much as she was. They both knew that because of the chain of command and all those regulations they shouldn't be doing any of this... but those rules were not written for soldiers working on another planet in a completely different solar system, right? Besides now it wasn't about deep emotions, this was ... different, right then.

Carter was sick of waiting. They didn't have time... She moved her leg a bit. She had the chance to use her feet to rub his calf, up and down, up and down. She felt it when he tensed in anticipation. It gave her courage to do even more. Because her skirt was still resting up on her upper thighs, her legs were relatively free. And the Colonel was too distracted to notice... She was teasing him and he let her to do it.

Jack O'Neill was in serious troubles. Oh yeah, he knew. The woman was trying to slowly kill him. And there was nothing he could do about it. He was turned on and she had to feel it. His self-control was almost gone and he knew it.

He looked at her again. He looked into her eyes. And he couldn't take it.

"Colonel... Sir?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Is there any chance for you to brake the regulations and kiss me right now?"

She couldn't believe herself! She said that out loud!

He saw the shock written all over her face. But he did it anyway. He pressed his lips to hers. In that moment she closed her eyes. At first he was not moving at all. However then very slowly, he moved his lips over hers. Gentle nibbling and sucking on her lips... she thought she would lose her mind. She wanted to take the lead but she couldn't. He had to do it.

She hooked her heels over his legs to press him even closer to her. And that was the impulse he needed.

He touched her lips with his tongue. She growled. She opened herself to him and was not hesitating. They both knew that this was their first and last kiss in the same time. They needed and wanted to enjoy it, to experience its full potential. They both got lost in that kiss. They lost the track of time, they were not even aware of their surrounding anymore. They didn't even notice Daniel.

Daniel came to check out what was wrong because O'Neill has been gone for too long. He heard a very strange conversation about his two teammates kissing. He couldn't quite believe it. Of course that he had noticed all those sparks around those two, he noticed the tension and the sexual charge in the air. But they were both military so...

He came into that tent and saw Jack and Sam making out. He was pinning her to the ground, she was holding him close with her legs. He was still holding her hands over her head. And when Daniel was about to leave, he heard Sam moan in pleasure. Her hands were released. She was free again. So she took advantage of that situation. She had her hands in his hair, on his face, she let them travel across his body. And Jack? He had one of his hands on her face or in her hair and the second one was massaging the flesh on her upper thigh. They didn't look like they were about to end anytime soon.

Daniel wanted to interrupt them before things would get too far. He couldn't do it though. They both needed this. He knew it was just an exception. Maybe it would help them... And he would cover for them...

He left them there. He could only hope for them to stay sane after this.

Carter knew that she should stop him from doing those things to her. She knew that this was wrong. But it felt so good.

O'Neill knew that he was supposed to stop. The situation was getting more and more serious. But he couldn't. God would have to help him later to deal with it... because he couldn't let go.

They kept kissing and touching, they couldn't stop.

During one heated moment, they locked their eyes. Her bright blue ones were looking directly into his chocolate ones. And they both saw it there. The passion, all those strange and confused feelings but also the uncertainty. Her lip began to tremble. He kept caressing her face. Suddenly it was not just about the urges. Situation was different and it let them both thinking and wondering, not really knowing what to do.

"Sir?"

"Yeah... I know."

"I..."

"Shh... no need to say anything. I should just ... go."

"No!"

He was a bit shocked by the effect her voice had on him. They both were sitting now, not touching and yet they were so close. She had tears glistering in her eyes and she hated herself for that. O'Neill saw those tears and hated himself for doing this to her.

They both felt the urge to talk this through and yet they both remained silent. They couldn't find the words they needed. She closed her eyes and took a calming deep breath. When she opened them, he was still sitting there, watching her face. There was some sort of a silent communication there between them. They had experienced that about three times till now... and they know that this ability will develop between them pretty soon. The silent understanding.

"Hey Carter... are we... I mean... are we good?"

"Yes sir, I think we are. Aren't we?"

The realization hit them both. Something happened between them and it was not just because of the opportunity in that moment. It was against the regulations. They could have ended up pretty badly because of all this. After a minute there was something else in their eyes. Understanding. They knew that there would be a little secret hidden between them. One little precious secret.

Carter lied down, put her head into his lap and closed her eyes.

O'Neill was silently watching her. He kept caressing her hair. It was the only thing he could do. He needed to find some peace in his soul. He didn't see this coming. He thought that the attraction between them would remain just that – attraction. He couldn't imagine them acting upon it. And yet here he was, sitting in a very bad smelling yurt, while his 2IC had her head placed in his lap, trying to sleep. It was their way how to say goodbye, he guessed.

He kissed her head and closed his eyes for a moment. She was the first woman he kissed after divorcing Sarah. She was the first woman under his command. Ever. And somehow she became the first woman he started to care for after all those long years. And it was not only because of what they have been through together. This was different. After only few weeks of working together she unintentionally found her way behind his thick walls. But he knew how to lock his feelings deep inside. And that was exactly the thing he would have to do. There was no other choice.

He was supposed to be her CO and nothing else. They were a team. Daniel would say a small family but who was he kidding? They were... just soldiers. Right? Four people working together. That was it...

She was sleeping peacefully. And he kept watching her.

After few minutes he just kissed her forehead and put her head down. He found a blanket or whatever it was and put it over her. He whispered something into her ear and then silently found his way out of the yurt.

Daniel was sitting there by the fire. Waiting for him? Maybe. O'Neill sat down next to him, without a word.

Daniel was only an anthropologist, yeah, but it looked like the soldier next to him was becoming his best friend. He couldn't say how that happened though. He knew him, he could read him like an open book. And he was almost sure that Jack had the same ability. Only because of his past and training, he was trying to keep his thoughts and feelings locked inside. But Daniel knew better than that.

He looked at him. Was that a good moment to try to talk to him?

"Jack...?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yep. Sure."

Well definitely not the best time to try to talk to him. Daniel wanted to leave but he also needed to say something. He knew him and he knew that Jack would be just sitting there and thinking whole night. And they needed him rested and relaxed.

"Give it some time, Jack. The circumstances might change you know? And if there is something between you two, something deeper than that attraction and passion, who knows... maybe there will be time for you to be together. Just don't shut her out after this evening. You care about your people and I know you care about her. I also know that this fact makes you feel confused. But you know, that thing beating in your chest, that is heart. And no matter how much you try to lock it behind walls and have it heavily guarded, it happens sometimes that somebody can find the way in. And that is not a bad thing."

"Daniel..."

He practically growled at him. He was not angry, he was just trying really hard to remain calm and he couldn't achieve that. He didn't want to hear it, he didn't want to acknowledge that the scientist might be right. And he has suffered to much already. There was no need to let somebody in and then suffer again.

"Jack just listen to me, okay? I am just trying to say that finding out that you care about someone is not bad. And screw the army and everything around, okay? This is not just some mission in the Middle East. We are traveling through the galaxy. If we don't care for each other, if we don't trust each other, we will get killed. And you know it as well as I do."

"Yes. And if we care and we get caught, we will get into some serious troubles anyway. And it's gonna be even worse."

"So this is only about you being afraid?"

"Daniel..."

"Jack, having friends is a pretty good thing! And yeah, something happened between you two tonight. And there is no way you will forget about it anytime soon. But do you really want to?"

"I cannot let anybody to cloud my judgment. Or anything for the record."

"She's a friend, Jack. And this whole team... is important for her... as well as it is important for you or me. What is the real point here anyway? You are not that type of guy to just... love them and leave them... and especially like this."

"Daniel why don't you go to sleep, huh?"

"Jack... just promise me that you will make things right..."

He didn't know why the conversation went this way. He could see the hurt in his friend's eyes.

"Jack if you care for her, it's good. It might be difficult and it might get bad. But you cannot know that. So far we are all friends. And from what I know we all wanna be friends. Hanging out together, getting to know each other, maybe even trying to enjoy the time we spent out here."

"Daniel, just... go."

"Take it one step at a time, okay?"

And he left him. He felt confused. When did he lost the point of the conversation? What happened? He didn't know.

Jack fell asleep by the fire.

In the morning they found out that Sam was gone. And they went through hell of troubles to find her and get her out. They were all worried. And there was something on their minds that kept telling them that this was all just wrong.

Daniel tried to talk to Jack. But he wouldn't listen to him. This was the situation that they didn't want to experience... a friend being captured.

Jack realized that he was not afraid that Carter would say something and endanger Earth or them. He was afraid that she would get hurt. And that was just wrong.

When she was back with them, they kept the conversation light. They all were trying to understand what was this all about.

Daniel talked to Sam. They agreed that becoming friends meant some difficulties but on the other hand, it was a good thing. They didn't want to be only people assigned to the same team. They wanted to be friends. They promised each other that it would not cloud their judgment. They understood what was this about.

Jack was nowhere to be found for some time. Teal'c mentioned that he had walked away. Daniel wanted to follow him but Sam stopped him.

Carter found O'Neill sitting on a cliff, looking at the stars above him.

"May I sit down, sir?"

"Yeah, sure."

And so they were sitting there together, both silent. She knew that he would never say a thing to her.

"Can I speak freely, sir?"

"You? Always, Carter."

"I know the regulations, I know what we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act. But we are traveling through the galaxy, sir. And it takes more than just respect to become a team that can operate in these conditions. I have no intention of overstepping the line, sir. I just wanted to tell you that being considered your friend, now or in the future, is an honor. And we both know the risks. We might get captured, killed or who knows what. But with all due respect, sir, I don't care about that. If we are about to work together, find your friend and Daniel's wife and who knows, maybe save the planet or something, we have to know each other pretty well. Otherwise we might as well screw things up... And you know, that doesn't really look good in the papers..."

They remained silent for some time. He was chuckling a bit. She had a point.

O'Neill then reached for her hand. He held onto it for a moment. He looked into her eyes.

"Friends?"

"Yes, sir."

"Really?"

"Nothing wrong with being friends... nothing wrong with caring about people. Even when you don't want to admit it, sir."

"Watch it, Captain."

"I can speak my mind, right, sir? Always?"

He had to chuckle. She got him there.

"Sir we don't what will happen to us, no one can tell. But I believe that taking a little risk every now and then can't be that bad..."

He smiled at her.

"Movie night in Colorado Springs? Beer and pizza perhaps? Introducing Teal'c to some parts of our culture?"

"Sounds good to me, sir."

He gave her a silent nod. They couldn't know what this would mean in the future. But they knew for sure, that opening their hearts a bit wouldn't be that bad. Not when they are off world.

They stayed there for a moment bit longer, smiling and watching the stars. When they got back, Daniel could sense the change. And he was happy. He was happy for them and he was also happy for himself.

Back on Earth, while they were stepping through the Gate, General Hammond was waiting there for them. He noticed a slight change in their behavior. He didn't know what that was though. After being checked in the infirmary they had to debrief. He knew that it would be very interesting.

Hammond was thinking about this place... This will be completely different from all of his other assignments. He could sense that it would be also pretty difficult to run this place. There was a list on his wall. It was a list with all names of his people. They made it when the program has officially started. On the top of the paper was written one of the oldest mottos that existed. "One for all, all for one". And somebody added "Nobody stays behind". It has unofficially become the motto of the base. The whole personnel had signed under this. Nobody was forced. It was their will. And when somebody new comes, he asks for the list after his first mission if not sooner. These people are more than soldiers and scientists. And there are many ways how to show it.

The debrief was interesting. Hammond was listening to them, watching them and then he understood. Those people were no longer co-workers. Something changed. They were more at ease around each other, not so nervous, not so formal. Something was missing in their report but he couldn't care less. Those people seemed to be okay with the work, with the mission. Who was he to ask more of them? He was glad that they were okay. And he was wondering, what was the thing that had changed recently.

After watching third team going for a movie night with beer and pizza, laughing and making jokes, he understood. It was not about being in the army on in the program. This was about trust and constant learning. This was all about people. His people. In that moment he understood that he would do anything to protect them and to help them. He might be the general here, the man running this whole big machinery, but he was also just a guy in uniform. He couldn't fight with them out there. But he will do his best to fight for them here on Earth. It will be risky, yeah. But what would be life without taking some small risks, huh?

* * *

_**A/N**: Well the original idea was just a little something about Sam and Jack and the tension between them... but while I was writing, my hands and my mind cooperated and this is the result. I am not really sure what to think about it. So... tell me – what do you think about it? :o)_


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